Crock Pot Oatmeal

While I was checking out Pinterest for dinner ideas yesterday I came across a recipe for Crock Pot Oatmeal and I was intrigued. The thought of waking up to the smell of apples and cinnamon in the morning had me giddy (yes, I'm a loser). My daughter loves oatmeal and in theory I would have loved to use steel cut oats instead of quick oats but they just take too dang long. Lets be real, who has time for that in the morning?! This recipe is a game changer for me. It was a total hit this morning with my loves.  What an awesome idea for when you have company staying for a few days and need a quick meal that people can eat as they each wake up in the morning. Here is the adapted recipe I came up with. Enjoy!

Yield: 4 adult servings

Ingredients

1 cup steel cut oats 

3 tablespoons ground flax

3 large apples peeled, cored & cubed

2 cups milk

1 cup water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon (or less -- we love cinnamon though)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter (cut into small cubes)

1/4 cup raisins and/or dried cranberries (optional)

 

Optional: we topped with a bit of milk & almonds when we served it. Top with whatever you want! 

 

Method

Spray inside of crockpot dish with pam then toss everything in and stir. Put crock pot on low for 5-6 hours then go to bed. I put ours on one of our lamp timers to turn off after this 5 hours since I definitely sleep longer then that (my crock pot only has an 8 or 10 hours low setting). BAM! Hot breakfast when you wake up.



Meal Planning

I am entering the third week of being a full time working Mom and this shit is no joke! I have had some great days and I've had some flat out terrible ones (my husband can attest to that). One thing that I have found helps immensely is meal planning. I'm usually a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type when it comes to cooking but this approach hasn't been difficult to get used to at all. In fact, I've noticed that we are now using up frozen meats that have sat for a few months and I am trying out new recipes. A win-win! This is what has worked for us so far;

Saturday:
- check out "Flip" app to see what meats are on sale this week
- Troll Pinterest for recipe ideas (sometimes they are based off of items we have already & what's on sale)
- Pick at least 1 meal that will provide some leftovers for lunches (we love leftovers in this house!)
- We leave one day empty or for leftovers just in case we go out
- We love pizza here so we have homemade, frozen or ordered pizza about once a week
- Pin to a board labeled "This Weeks Meals" so when I'm cooking I have the recipe right there
- Make grocery list

Sunday:
- Groceries during nap time
- Write menu on whiteboard on fridge

Easy peasy!

Here we go!

 

The last 17 months with my Peanut have been amazing. Don't get me wrong, there have been days where I wished that I were at work dealing with 30 pubescent teens instead of at home dealing with explosive baby shit, witching hours, and mystery temper tantrums but all in all it has been awesome. The good times definitely outweigh the rough ones. I count my blessings daily for being in the position to be able to take 17 months off. I have 3 more days before the mayhem begins -- 3 freaking days to make count. GAH!! I am really looking forward to restoring balance in my life again though. Being a stay at home mom for the last year and a half has caused me to feel like I have an imbalance - it will be nice to shift my focus to my career during working hours and be more present while spending time with my daughter and husband. I'm sad that I won't be 'raising' Peanut during working hours but I am so flippin' happy with her daycare provider and the kiddos she will be chillin' with all week. Peanut is loving it there so far.

To all my fellow teachers, best of luck as you start up another school year. To parents who are sending their children off to school, good luck to you as well. Here's to another amazing school year for all!